Mexican American mothers of low and middle socioeconomic status: communication behaviors and interactive strategies during shared book reading.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this investigation was to describe and compare the communication behaviors and interactive reading strategies used by Mexican American mothers of low- and middle-socioeconomic status (SES) background during shared book reading.


METHODS
Twenty Mexican American mother-child dyads from the Southwestern United States were observed during two book reading sessions. The data were coded across a number of communication behavior categories and were analyzed using the Adult/Child Interactive Reading Inventory (ACIRI; A. DeBruin-Parecki, 1999).


RESULTS
Mexican American mothers used a variety of communication behaviors during shared book reading with their preschool children. Significant differences between the SES groups regarding the frequency of specific communication behaviors were revealed. Middle-SES mothers used positive feedback and yes/no questions more often than did low-SES mothers. Mexican American mothers also used a variety of interactive reading strategies with varying frequency, as measured by the ACIRI. They enhanced attention to text some of the time, but rarely promoted interactive reading/supported comprehension or used literacy strategies. There were no significant differences between the SES groups regarding the frequency of interactive reading strategies.


CONCLUSIONS
Parent literacy programs should supplement Mexican American mothers' communication behaviors and interactive reading strategies to improve effectiveness and participation.
Rodríguez
Barbara L
BL
University of New Mexico, Department of Speech & Hearing Sciences, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA. brodrig@unm.edu
Hines
Rachel
R
Montiel
Miguel
M
D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000523:psychology*; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000208:ethnology*; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011932:Reading; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States